The Top 6 + Matt - 4/21/09

[The4thJudge]

Tight Black T

Another boring night in Idolville. I say instead of sending home two tonight we send home four, get down to the final three and take care of business. I'll save who those final three should be for later. This will be a short recap as work is kicking my ass at the moment.

Lil Rounds – “I’m Every Woman” Chaka Khan
She really worked the crowd a bit more than in previous weeks. But, as the judges keep saying, where are you Lil Rounds. She's been everyone else but. Tonight she was a poor imitation of Chaka Khan. She was flat from the start and never seemed to find her way back.

Kris Allen – “She Works Hard For the Money” Donna Summer
A total surprise. I really liked this arrangement. He made the song current and I could definitely hear that on radio today. I felt a little Jason Mraz there, and that's not a bad thing these days considering how hot he is.

Danny Gokey – “September” Earth, Wind and Fire
The arrangement didn't stray much from the original, but Danny performed some vocal acrobatics. Even though my Danny love has waned, that growl of his gets me every time. Hell, it's a weakness. I thought his stage movements were a bit awkward. It was as if he was about to let go and then he'd pull back. Too worried about being compared to Taylor maybe. Danny, every google alert makes the comparison, just go with it.

Allison Iraheta – “Hot Stuff” Donna Summer
No disco in this version, just my hard rockin' girl giving it a ride once again. While I thought her vocals were great, I was a little uncomfortable with a 16-year-old singing this song.

Adam Lambert – “If I Can’t Have You” Yvonne Elliman
Adam's version of this song was completely unrecognizable from the original – that's not a bad thing. It was slow and soul wrenching. His falsetto was beautiful tonight. Paula was right; he left his heart on the stage.

Matt Giraud – “Staying Alive” The Bee Gees
He looked like Justin and performed it like Justin. I hate Justin. We don't need another Justin. I truly think the save was wasted on him. They had two more weeks to use it or not use it. I would rather have seen them not use it.

Anoop Desai – “Dim All The Lights” Donna Summer
The arrangement was slowed down to make it less disco, but the melody was pretty much there. Simon thought it was his worst performance, and I don't agree. I do think it was his weakest performance in weeks, and that last note – ouch!

My bottom three are: Lil Rounds, Matt Giraud and Anoop Desai. I think we'll see Lil and Matt going home tonight.

So, in the interest of saving time and my sanity, I think we should just get down to Adam, Allison and Kris, have a one show elimination and put this puppy to bed. I say we start a campaign. Anyone with me?


Seacrest's Hair

Disco, one of our favorite standard AI trainwrecks... just like Country, it rarely has anything to do with any of the contestants, the ones you think will do well stumble, and someone else unexpectedly kills. We need to turn this show into a drinking game, by the way -- rules along the lines of: Randy says "dawg", take a shot; Kara screws up math or pop culture reference, take a shot; Paula says something you don't understand, finish your beer... We'd recommend having a lot of beer around. So, on with the show...

Lil, with absolutely no irony whatsoever, sang "I'm Every Woman" like a drunken Chaka Khan and insists it's not "karaoke". We're sure that Lil is thinking, "But I did the song the way it's supposed to be done!" Hm, yeah, except it was pitchy, her vowels are terrible, and she did that thing where she talks to the audience -- we hate that. So, nothing interesting here except that she's still in denial.

Kris surprised us with a Latin-Caribbean flavored "She Works Hard For The Money". We can't fault his vocal at all, he didn't mess with the melody too much which was an excellent choice, and since it's a third-person narrative, we don't really see the big deal in him choosing a "girl" song. (And we assume that Kris does, occasionally, buy pretty girl panties for his hot wife.)

Gokey hollered his way through "September". Honestly, we do a better version in the car, tearing down the highway and not really paying attention to the lyrics. Speaking of which, did he flub lyrics in there or did he just have trouble with some of the rhythms?

Allison sang "Hot Stuff", which had an interesting, almost alt-country or southern rock slow intro, then moved into heavy metal guitar territory in the middle. It was definitely a struggle for her this week, but it's not the arrangement's fault at all. It was actually unique (at least until some blogger finds out where it came from). We feel like maybe Adam helped out a little with it.

Speaking of Adam and Hot Stuff... oh, sorry. *cough* Yeah, journalistic integrity goes out the window when he steps on stage. Adam deconstructed "If I Can't Have You" into a heart-breaking slow burn. We are dubbing the triple blue spotlight "Adam lights" from now on. He pretty much proved that disco songs are actually songs, not a collection of dance beats and vocal showboating. Props to him for giving props to Michael; and we love how his reaction to compliments from the judges is always "Oh, really? Thank you." We're a bit farklempt.

Matt, like Lil, decided to go totally unironic with his song choice: "Stayin' Alive". He was very Timberlakey, and we seriously need to remember not to look at either him or Kris when they perform... they have to be radio artists, at least for us. Anyway, it was a plain reading of the song, not interesting at all, although a bit uncomfortable in parts (again, we watched him, so that might've influenced it). That's certainly not going to save him.

Anoop closed out the show with "Dim All The Lights". He's got some scruff growing, which, um... really doesn't work for him. Dude, get rid of it. It makes you look like an even bigger frat douche than usual. (Excuse our French.) So, the start was pitchy, the ending was abrupt, but the middle was all right, and we didn't even mind when the band went up-tempo... because Anoop's vocal didn't really follow. He kept it in his comfort zone. Which, at this point, is probably his best tactic.

For once we actually agree wholeheartedly with our colleague Tight Black T. Lil and Matt have to go this week. If Lil sticks around somehow, we assume Anoop would be sacrificed, but if there's a God in Heaven everyone will be helping Lil pack her bags later today.

Gokey's losing steam, and if America suddenly decides to care more about music than over-exposed sob stories, it will be an Adam-Allison-Kris final.


Note: Lil' Dawg now has a Tuesday night commitment and so will probably not be reporting for the rest of the season. We may try and get some comments out of her here and there.

[Georgia]

Hmmm....I actually think Allison may be in trouble after last night and I don't see her in the finale. Anoop did himself no favors with his song choice -- I keep waiting for him to step up to the plate, but he just can't seem to find his niche in this competition. I agree that Lil needs to go, too -- am just not sure it will be tonight.

(04-22-2009 09:36 AM)The5thJudge Wrote:  Tight Black T

Another boring night in Idolville. I say instead of sending home two tonight we send home four, get down to the final three and take care of business. I'll save who those final three should be for later. This will be a short recap as work is kicking my ass at the moment.

Lil Rounds – “I’m Every Woman” Chaka Khan
She really worked the crowd a bit more than in previous weeks. But, as the judges keep saying, where are you Lil Rounds. She's been everyone else but. Tonight she was a poor imitation of Chaka Khan. She was flat from the start and never seemed to find her way back.

Kris Allen – “She Works Hard For the Money” Donna Summer
A total surprise. I really liked this arrangement. He made the song current and I could definitely hear that on radio today. I felt a little Jason Mraz there, and that's not a bad thing these days considering how hot he is.

Danny Gokey – “September” Earth, Wind and Fire
The arrangement didn't stray much from the original, but Danny performed some vocal acrobatics. Even though my Danny love has waned, that growl of his gets me every time. Hell, it's a weakness. I thought his stage movements were a bit awkward. It was as if he was about to let go and then he'd pull back. Too worried about being compared to Taylor maybe. Danny, every google alert makes the comparison, just go with it.

Allison Iraheta – “Hot Stuff” Donna Summer
No disco in this version, just my hard rockin' girl giving it a ride once again. While I thought her vocals were great, I was a little uncomfortable with a 16-year-old singing this song.

Adam Lambert – “If I Can’t Have You” Yvonne Elliman
Adam's version of this song was completely unrecognizable from the original – that's not a bad thing. It was slow and soul wrenching. His falsetto was beautiful tonight. Paula was right; he left his heart on the stage.

Matt Giraud – “Staying Alive” The Bee Gees
He looked like Justin and performed it like Justin. I hate Justin. We don't need another Justin. I truly think the save was wasted on him. They had two more weeks to use it or not use it. I would rather have seen them not use it.

Anoop Desai – “Dim All The Lights” Donna Summer
The arrangement was slowed down to make it less disco, but the melody was pretty much there. Simon thought it was his worst performance, and I don't agree. I do think it was his weakest performance in weeks, and that last note – ouch!

My bottom three are: Lil Rounds, Matt Giraud and Anoop Desai. I think we'll see Lil and Matt going home tonight.

So, in the interest of saving time and my sanity, I think we should just get down to Adam, Allison and Kris, have a one show elimination and put this puppy to bed. I say we start a campaign. Anyone with me?


Seacrest's Hair

Disco, one of our favorite standard AI trainwrecks... just like Country, it rarely has anything to do with any of the contestants, the ones you think will do well stumble, and someone else unexpectedly kills. We need to turn this show into a drinking game, by the way -- rules along the lines of: Randy says "dawg", take a shot; Kara screws up math or pop culture reference, take a shot; Paula says something you don't understand, finish your beer... We'd recommend having a lot of beer around. So, on with the show...

Lil, with absolutely no irony whatsoever, sang "I'm Every Woman" like a drunken Chaka Khan and insists it's not "karaoke". We're sure that Lil is thinking, "But I did the song the way it's supposed to be done!" Hm, yeah, except it was pitchy, her vowels are terrible, and she did that thing where she talks to the audience -- we hate that. So, nothing interesting here except that she's still in denial.

Kris surprised us with a Latin-Caribbean flavored "She Works Hard For The Money". We can't fault his vocal at all, he didn't mess with the melody too much which was an excellent choice, and since it's a third-person narrative, we don't really see the big deal in him choosing a "girl" song. (And we assume that Kris does, occasionally, buy pretty girl panties for his hot wife.)

Gokey hollered his way through "September". Honestly, we do a better version in the car, tearing down the highway and not really paying attention to the lyrics. Speaking of which, did he flub lyrics in there or did he just have trouble with some of the rhythms?

Allison sang "Hot Stuff", which had an interesting, almost alt-country or southern rock slow intro, then moved into heavy metal guitar territory in the middle. It was definitely a struggle for her this week, but it's not the arrangement's fault at all. It was actually unique (at least until some blogger finds out where it came from). We feel like maybe Adam helped out a little with it.

Speaking of Adam and Hot Stuff... oh, sorry. *cough* Yeah, journalistic integrity goes out the window when he steps on stage. Adam deconstructed "If I Can't Have You" into a heart-breaking slow burn. We are dubbing the triple blue spotlight "Adam lights" from now on. He pretty much proved that disco songs are actually songs, not a collection of dance beats and vocal showboating. Props to him for giving props to Michael; and we love how his reaction to compliments from the judges is always "Oh, really? Thank you." We're a bit farklempt.

Matt, like Lil, decided to go totally unironic with his song choice: "Stayin' Alive". He was very Timberlakey, and we seriously need to remember not to look at either him or Kris when they perform... they have to be radio artists, at least for us. Anyway, it was a plain reading of the song, not interesting at all, although a bit uncomfortable in parts (again, we watched him, so that might've influenced it). That's certainly not going to save him.

Anoop closed out the show with "Dim All The Lights". He's got some scruff growing, which, um... really doesn't work for him. Dude, get rid of it. It makes you look like an even bigger frat douche than usual. (Excuse our French.) So, the start was pitchy, the ending was abrupt, but the middle was all right, and we didn't even mind when the band went up-tempo... because Anoop's vocal didn't really follow. He kept it in his comfort zone. Which, at this point, is probably his best tactic.

For once we actually agree wholeheartedly with our colleague Tight Black T. Lil and Matt have to go this week. If Lil sticks around somehow, we assume Anoop would be sacrificed, but if there's a God in Heaven everyone will be helping Lil pack her bags later today.

Gokey's losing steam, and if America suddenly decides to care more about music than over-exposed sob stories, it will be an Adam-Allison-Kris final.


Note: Lil' Dawg now has a Tuesday night commitment and so will probably not be reporting for the rest of the season. We may try and get some comments out of her here and there.

[keb]

OK no one asked but here is my opinion: (and you're one short)


Lil Rounds – “I’m Every Woman” Chaka Khan:
I agree with karaoke but only after too much Jaeger. I did find the cat suit hot, it brought to mind one of my favorite guilty pleasure songs Sir MixaLot's ode to the booty. “I Like Big Butts”

Kris Allen – “She Works Hard For the Money” Donna Summer
He was wonderful, I feel he is a true dark horse in this competition. The arrangement worked so well for him and his voice was spot on, he took a chance it worked. I found the whole conversation on the women's underwear very funny, especially since he is Adam's roommate.

Danny Gokey – “September” Earth, Wind and Fire
Not my favorite contestant. However he has taken me from extreme hatred to persistent annoyance. Week after week he drops further down into mediocrity and last night was more of the same. He did bust out a few dance moves, but I think his constant comparison to Taylor made he rethink the dancing. He probably Googled Taylor and found out he was not the most well loved Idol.
BTW: HE ISN'T ANYTHING LIKE TAYLOR NO, NO, NO

Allison Iraheta – “Hot Stuff” Donna Summer
Amazing voice, great stage presence my big problem the song choice. I cringed, it is a very inappropriate song for a 16 year old. Actually the song itself distracted me from the performance., Still can't believe no one mentioned the lyrics when she chose the to sing it.

Adam Lambert – “If I Can’t Have You” Yvonne Elliman
Wow I was surprised, I was thinking white suit, platform shoes, disco lights, the whole John Travolta. Instead we got a heartfelt ballad from a song that used to be a staple on the disco dance floor. Again he pulled off the surprise, was a bit worried the judges might not like it, but no problem there either. I just love Adam even if has broken every wine glass in my house with those high notes.

Matt Giraud – “Staying Alive” The Bee Gees
Good tongue in cheek song choice. Matt fans can choke me but I think the “save” was wasted on him, there were still two weeks left and IMHO should have been used to prevent another “surprise” elimination like Allison, Danny, Kris, Adam who (again JMO) should be the top four.

Anoop Desai – “Dim All The Lights” Donna Summer
Anoop, Anoop you needed to bust out some Bollywood moves! He is so college boy and white bread. I think he has talent and he looks damn good with his big dark eyes . His voice was good in the song, I liked the arrangement but he is boring. If this is not his Swan Song it will be next week, unless he can blow us out of the water.

My bottom three: Lil, Matt and Anoop (again)
Going home: Anyones guess.

Dial Idol by the way has put Lil in first place. VFTW must have power voted.

[The4thJudge]

Not asked for but much appreciated with the loss of our Lil' one.

Interesting about Lil being first on Dial Idol. I heard Allison was last. If that is the case then the save last week will make me even angrier.

I did find the cat suit hot, it brought to mind one of my favorite guilty pleasure songs Sir MixaLot's ode to the booty. “I Like Big Butts”

[Stangy]

My two cents on DialIdol is that it's become worthless. So many votes are texed and so many more lines are open now, the busy signal measurement is just not accurate. I think they may be doing some kind of rolling line opening. I suspect they've made some adjustments. I'm voting on the phone and having no problem at all getting through on Adam's line. I mean almost every time. For two hours. I only got a busy signal like five times. Obviously things have changed since the old days of solid busy signals. Long way to say it, but I just mean busy signals aren't accurate anymore, probably.

[TaylorsDame]

DialIdol is lame. According to them tonight, they're all "1-5".